In a message dated 98-02-05 18:24:08 EST, you write: << Try this for an exercise. Try tuning a circle of 5ths (and 4ths) with no checks to see how it comes out on the last one. Take care! >> I hope you really mean "exercise" here, and I'm not sure what purpose it would accomplish. If your goal is to have 12 precisely equally tempered 5ths, you need Rapidly Beating Interval (RBI) checks to control the process. "The last one" is not really the important one nor is it really a valid test of anything. The beating of all of the RBI's in between is what is important. If you get a 4th or a 5th a little too pure or just a little too tempered, and others that compensate for it along the way, that really has no clearly audible effect on the music to be played however the speed of the RBI's can be greatly affected. I am all too concerned that the above is a recipe for "Reverse-Well" temperament, which most certainly does not qualify as ET nor can it be considered "normal" or "standard". In a true ET, there is no interval which can be compromised any more than any other. "pretty close" cannot really be considered "equal". If you habitually tune a temperament which has sufficient error from a true ET so as to create a "Reverse-Well" temperament, whether or not you are aware of it, you are handicapping the pianist much as if you ignored the need for action regulation or deliberately deregulated the action. While there is a certain pattern of deviation from ET which will actually enhance the sound of the piano and virtually all music to be played upon it, there is another which will have quite the opposite effect. It is very important to understand, be able to hear and control these distinctions. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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